U-S Officials Not Allowed To Visit WSJ Reporter

WSJ Journalist Evan Gershkovich

Nearly two weeks after Russian security agents picked up Evan Gershkovich at a restaurant during a reporting trip, Moscow still hasn’t granted U.S. Embassy officials permission to visit The Wall Street Journal reporter in detention—a pattern that follows other cases of American citizens jailed in Russia.

Consular access has been a regular point of contention between Washington and Moscow for years. The U.S. has frequently accused Russia of ignoring international law in depriving Americans of proper diplomatic representation, and its language is becoming increasingly blunt. 

“It’s inexcusable. We need to get consular access to Evan,” National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said last week. 

Gershkovich in custody

A State Department spokeswoman said that Russia hadn’t given the U.S. a legitimate explanation for denying access to Gershkovich, that the consular section had made multiple attempts through all available legal mechanisms, and that officials would continue to insist that Russia allow consistent, timely consular access to all detained U.S. citizens in keeping with its legal obligations.

On Monday, Gershkovich was officially deemed by the U.S. to be “wrongfully detained,” a move that effectively commits the U.S. government to securing his release. 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said last week that Russia would allow U.S. consular access in due course under standard Russian procedures.

U.S. officials have said previously that consular access is important to be able to see firsthand how an American citizen is doing—and because it is a matter of international law. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations says that states’ consular officials have the right to visit a citizen “in prison, custody or detention, to converse and correspond with him and to arrange for his legal representation.” Both the U.S. and Russia are signatories to the accord.